Transportation devices and transportation systems are an important part of the infrastructure used to enable commerce and the movement of people between locations. As such, they are essential services for the growth of an economy, the development of a society, and the effective governance of a region. Transportation devices and systems are used to move goods between distributions points, enable face-to-face meetings and discussions, and in general to facilitate the growth of relationships. Further, as new modes of transportation have developed, travel times and cargo carrying abilities have changed drastically, enabling new and often faster methods of communications and the delivery of goods and services. In this regard, over the years, several primary types of transportation systems have been developed; however, each typically has its own focus, advantages, and drawbacks compared to other modes of transportation.
For example, in the United States today, over 100 years after the first powered flight, the vast majority (>97%) of regional long-distance trips (i.e., 50 to 500 miles) are made by personal auto. Although countries with extensive rail systems may divert 10-15% of trips to rail, this still leaves well over 80% of trips to be made by auto. This is inefficient and may also not be in the best interests of society at large, as it translates to poor mobility (relatively long door-door times), creates pollution, and puts stress on the existing highway infrastructure. However, current commercial air services over this range are often relatively costly and inconvenient. One reason for this inefficiency is that the shorter flight distances mean that a relatively large fraction of the total travel time (>70%) is spent on the ground (where this “ground” time includes traveling to and from airports, traversing terminals, at the gate or taxiing on the tarmac). As a result, in such situations, air transportation is generally not a desirable mode of transport and is currently used for less than 1% of such regional trips.
Aviation transport services for people and cargo have doubled approximately every 15 years, enabling unprecedented global mobility and cargo distribution. In contrast, the relatively poor value proposition (and hence usage) of air travel over regional ranges might be considered a striking failure; even more so, given that almost all (94%) long-distance travel is regional. In this sense there is a demonstrated need for a desirable form of regional distance air transportation, but a lack of a desirable system for satisfying that need.
This failure to develop an effective and efficient form of regional air transportation has led to stagnant door-to-door travel times and has been a significant factor in limiting mobility improvements in the United States for several decades. This is highly undesirable, as limited mobility impacts business and pleasure travel, job development and opportunities, educational choices, and other factors which are beneficial to the growth and prosperity of society. In some regards, the viability of regional air transportation has actually declined steadily since the 1960s as airlines have shifted to larger aircraft and longer ranges in order to respond to competitive pressures and to lower the cost-per-passenger-mile of transportation. Thus, the present economic forces are causing current methods of providing air transportation to move steadily away from the types of systems and methods described herein.
As will be described, conventional approaches to providing air transport services for regional travel are not sufficiently convenient or effective for purposes of encouraging widespread use by potential customers. Embodiments of the invention are directed toward solving these and other problems individually and collectively.